Roxxor Beatbox

I don't know why this beatbox stuff fascinates me so. But when I hear a talented beatboxer I'm just in awe.

sly mic - beatbox

Kaossilator

My Kaossilator ARRIVED TODAY! (Thanks thinkgeek for fast shipping).
I've only had an hour or so to play with this new toy, and so far... AWESOME!
I should warn anyone who is thinking about getting one... it's really geared towards electronic/techno music. There are a lot of sound samples, but most are techno oriented.
I can see myself getting lost with this thing for long periods of time.
The only downside... I can see this starting to peak my interest in keyboards, and digital sound. (I used to have a small midi studio, WAY back in the day).
I say this is a downside only for one reason... money! It's an expensive hobby. But, I'm wondering if I can take a cheaper road with what little I know about chiptunes and 8bit music. I'm wondering if I can hobble together something that won't cost an arm and a leg, and yet provide me with some fun ways to make "music".
Once I feel like I've got the hang of this thing (which shouldn't take long), I hope to maybe post a youtube video.

A musical interlude post

Awesome drumming

Found this video via digg...
I'm not a big fan of the rap part, but the drumming was intense. Though I have to wonder (as someone who has no formal training in drumming), is this a "technically" difficult piece to play? Or is it just awesome cause the guy is putting on a show, what with all the Tats, the head bobbin, etc... Regardless, The beat and melody are rockin.
(note: I did not even attempt to figure out the lyrics, only word I could make out was Reebok's ;)

itunes - you got competition!

So, lets start from the beginning...
I admit, I've downloaded some songs from the internet back when Napster was new. I discovered Napster just when it was starting to cause all sorts of trouble. I knew it wouldn't last forever, so I grabbed some songs that i felt "justified" in doing so. For example, I had/have a large cassette tape collection. So rather than try and convert all my tapes into an mp3 format, it was easier for me to grab the songs off napster. So in that sense, I paid for them already. I will admit, I grabbed some songs with no justification, other than I believed the record industry had made a TON of money off of my purchases since I was a young teen. I started out with 45's as a young kid, along with some albums. When A young teen, I got back into 45's and albums (my favorite music store was "Peaches"! - now you might be able to tell how old I am now?)
Anyway, When it became clear to me that napster was headed for legal troubles, I stopped downloading. I soon switched to limewire, but I only limited my downloads to songs I could not find anywhere else. In other words, If I could buy them legally, I would, but since I could not find the cd, and any local stores, I would go to limewire.
(we're only talking a few songs here, it's not like I was downloading a huge library).
Then along came itunes.
I started to feel guilty in not buying songs, and I felt, that the new itunes store that offered songs at ¢99 each was a fair price to pay. So since then I've bought all my music via itunes (again, if itunes didn't have what I was looking for, I would see if limewire did - but itunes has a vast library, so that's rare.)
So just last week...
I forget even where I saw it (on the internet somewhere I'm sure), I heard something to the effect of "Amazon.com has gained a foothold in the mp3 selling business and is now #2 in sales".
One of the big selling points of amazon... NO DRM!!! (DRM = Digital Rights Management = I can play an mp3 that I bought on my computer, my ipod, put it into a homemade itunes movie, bring it into garageband, etc, with no limitations. Wikipedia) IF I used an alternative mp3 player, I could play them there too.
Well, tonight, I decided to check it out.
I might be a new convert now.
A lot of their songs are priced at ¢89 (compared to apple's ¢99). AND, on a whim (after hearing my sister's itunes/soundtrack post, and seeing Pink Floyd, I decided it was time for me to embrace Pink again. (That's a whole other story for another time as to why I put a self-imposed ban on myself from ever listening to Pink again.)
So, I stopped over to the amazon store. Guess what... For "The Wall" (which is a double disk album with 26 songs) they were only charging $8.99!! At first, I thought this was a typo, or maybe that was for one of the disks and not both. But sure enough, $8.99 for all the songs. Wow! (I know, you say it louder ;) Itunes was charging the full price of about $26 for the same songs - AND Amazon has the benefit of being DRM free!
So a no brainer there.
It was a little confusing at first, I had to download a small "helper" program from Amazon, and the install/download process is slightly confusing, but I figured it out pretty easily.
So, I think from now on, I'll be checking Amazon first for any new songs I want, then itunes.
Kudos Amazon.
(ahem... apple, are you listening to your customers?)

PS> Music is amazing! I've not heard some of these Floyd songs in over 20 years, yet as I listen to them now as I type this, I can remember most of the lyrics like it was yesterday! Music and memory are a powerful combination.

PS2> I'm aware apple has toyed with some DRM free songs. But I still don't understand it. Something about having a choice, or paying extra or something? anyone understand it, please leave a comment.

Tech Tags: amazon.com itunes apple music mp3 drm

My Own Personal soundtrack

Ok, this was fun and interesting. I got (stole) this idea from my Sister's blog today.
Copied and pasted here:
This meme went around ages ago, but I didn't have an ipod to participate. I grabbed the format from Stories from the Red Tent. If your life were a movie, what would the soundtrack be?

So, here's how it works:
1. Open your itunes library
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie
7. I added one more feature, though. I listened to each of the songs (except the first one) that came up then included a line or two from the lyrics which seemed especially fitting.

So then, the soundtrack of my life:


Opening Credits:
Title: The Hornburg
Artist: Howard Shore
Album: Lord of the Rings: Two Towers
Lyric: Instrumental

Waking Up:
Title: Miracle
Artist: Erasure
Album: I Say I say I say
lyric: The Miracle of Love...

First Day of School:
Title: Little Things (HA!!)
Artist: Good Charlotte
Album: Good Charlotte
Lyric: How fitting! HA! This song starts with a dedication... "This song is dedicated [this is good charlotte] to every kid who ever got picked last in Gym Class, to every kid who had no date for a school dance, [this is for you], To everyone who's ever been called a freak, [this is for you]"


Falling in Love:
Title: Down
Artist: David Gahan
Album: Hourlgass
Lyric: Opening line... "I need some company"
Chorus: "Down on the Ground, there's no one around"
Ok, this little blog meme is starting to freak me out now.

Breaking Up
Title: Joan
Artist: Erasure
Album: Chorus
Lyric: It's just not within the scheme of things, to give up your life so easily,

Prom:
Title: Aprés Moi
Artist: Regina Spektor
Album: Begin to Hope
Lyric: I must go on standing.
(ok, this one doesn't really fit)

Life:
Title: Break Stuff
Artist: Limp Bizkit
Album: Significant Other
Lyric: It's just one of those days when you don't want to wake up, everything is F*d, everybody sucks
Oh so fitting! (well, on my bad days anyway).
Ok, I cheated on this one. The first one that popped up in my shuffle was "dreidle" from the SouthPark Cartoon. But since it's not really a true song, I'm not counting it. But it's interesting to see how the remaining songs fall...

Mental Breakdown:
Title: Cold
Artist: Tears for Fears
Album: Elemental
Lyric: Cold... bring to me my big ol' sweater, nothing more will make me better.

Driving:
Title: Concerto for Flute, Harp, and Orchestra in C Major K 299
Artist: Pierre Narrato
Album: Classics for relaxation
Lyric: instrumental
I can visualize the scene of driving along in my jeep with the top down on a sunny day in the country ;)

Flashback:
Title: Eye in the Sky
Artist: Jonatha Brooke
Album: Back in the Circus
Lyric: I am the eye in the sky, looking at you, I can read your mind...

Getting Back Together:
Title: Contre Le Temps/Back Door Man
Artist: Hesperus
Album: Unicorn
Lyric: Every married woman, I believe she's got some back door man. (blues song).

Wedding:
Title: Mess of Doubt
Artist: The Giraffes
Album: The days are filled with years
Lyric: Right now, nothing glued down, my life is just a mess of doubt
(note: I'm not married, so not sure if this one applies)

Birth of Child:
Title: Why should the Fire Die?
Artist: Nickle Creek
Album: Why should the Fire Die?
Lyric: I'm not scared of being alone...

Final Battle
Title: Nothing
Artist: Depeche Mode
Album: 101
Lyric: Sitting, waiting, anticipating, nothing.... Life is full of surprises, it advertises nothing. What am I trying to do, what am I trying to say, I'm not trying to tell you anything you didn't know when you woke up today.
(with all my dm songs it's about time one of them popped up)

Death Scene:
Title: New Favorite
Artist: Alison Krauss & Union Station
Album: New Favorite
Lyric: I saw the light go out...
I skipped another one that doesn't match up... a techno song called Home Zone by Digitalism.

Funeral Song:
Title: Come Play
Artist: Tweaker
Album: The attraction to all things uncertain
Lyric: Techno Instrumental - again doesn't fit in here.

End Credits:
Title: A Question of Lust
Artist: Depeche Mode
Album: 101
Lyric: A Question of Lust, a question of trust, a question of not letting what we've built up crumble to dust, it is all of these things and more, that keep us together.

Ok, this experiment was fun at the beginning, but the last several didn't seem to fit in. Oh well, it was interesting - thanks Sis!

Funny to note, that my song library has 2090 songs in it. I'm amazed at the repeated bands of DM, and Erasure. I have such an eclectic library too, which this list does not reflect. Perhaps, it's not as eclectic as I thought it was? Interesting too, how you can listen to the lyrics intent on finding a thread of meaning in relation to these topics. Some were a stretch I'm sure.
I almost want to go back through my library, and then intentionally pick some of these songs and see what kind of story that would tell. Maybe another day...

Amazon - wag of the finger

I like Amazon.com.
They've always been reliable (a few hiccups over the years, but overall, I don't have much to complain about).
Well, today is a "wag of the finger" for Amazon.
I've noticed over the years, that when an item is low in stock, it usually means they are out of stock. I've been excited to buy a new toy... a KP3 Korg. I could not justify purchasing this expensive toy. But, just last week, In a strange twist of events, I recieved a check from my life insurance company. The company has been going through upheaval and bankruptcy, etc... so this check was a complete surprise to me. I had not been expecting it at all. Well, guess what... it just so happened to be the same amount as what a Kp3 costs! In my book, that counts as "answered prayer" and a sign from the cosmos that I was meant to purchase this item.
So I head over to amazon (so I can get my points), and proceed to order it. I had a few choices to purchase the item from, and they all said "had one in stock". I picked a reputable company.
Well, today, I got an email that said "we're sorry for the inconvenience, but we're out of stock". RATS!!!
I was able to cancel the order though with no problems at all (kudo's to 8th street music). And within an hour, I found another website that had 4 of these items in stock! (woohoo). It ended up costing me an extra $40, for shipping, and tax, but I'm really psyched to get this thing. And since I can't seem to find it ANYWHERE else, I felt I had better snap this thing up quickly.
So stay tuned... I HOPE to create some cool electronic music with this thing, and maybe post on youtube (if I feel it anywhere close to being good).
Amazon - you should fix your "stock" algorithms...I'm pretty sure this was not the fault of 8th Street music, but with Amazon. If I'm wrong, I apologize ahead of time Amazon.

Pete Seeger

I'm currently watching (yes, watching, downloading songs from itunes, and bloggin = multitasking) a show on PBS tonight called "American Masters" with the focus on Pete Seeger (wikipedia). Really neat show, Really cool guy. It's funny... If you had asked me just prior to seeing this show, if I could name one Pete Seeger song, I would not have been able to do it. I'd heard his name before, and knew that he was a singer from the 60's/70's but I knew nothing about him. What amazes me is that as the show is playing a LOT of his songs, I know a ton of them! Perhaps because some have been re-recorded, but still. They just played this one song called "Bring 'em home" about the war in Vietnam. It almost gave me the chills because if you just substituted the word Iraq with Vietnam it would be the same song with the same meanings.
In a small way... this show makes me sad though... Where are the "Pete Seegers" of 2008? Why are the songs today so purely pop and bubblegum? Why does it seem like musicians now have no real voice or influence like they did back then? I have to wonder is it because of the singers and songwriters today that may have different frames of mind, or is it because we as consumers of music don't want to listen to that sort of thing anymore.
Anyway... If you can catch a re-run of this show on PBS I encourage you to watch it. If not, here's the link to PBS's website for Pete.

Tech Tags: Pete+Seeger PBS American+Masters Music Folk

Black Fire Percussion

This stuff I really admire! Reminds me of my days as a "bander". We had one guy who could make those tom-toms sing when he wanted to... and best of all he always had a sense of humor about his rhythms. Hard to describe what I mean by humor... an example would be... we would have band practice and would practice marching to a certain beat. Then on the day of the parade we would start out and just every now and then "Animal" (that was his nickname from the dude from the muppets) would just slip in some off the wall rhythm or beat as we were marching. We would all know he did it and we all would just smile - except for the band leader ;)

Daft Punk at Grammy

This came as a big surprise to me today when it arrived in my email inbox. I learned that Daft Punk performed live at the Grammy Awards last night. I've only just recently discovered daft punk and I'm hooked. There are certain songs that are pure digital pop or as I like to call them "bubblegum pop" music, but there is just something about their beats and digital effects that I love. Admittedly it is probably their heavy use of the Vocoders... I'm a sucker for vocoder music. (Vocoder is a type of synthesizer that alters the human voice into different effects that usually makes it sound like a 1980's computer). Well, much to my surprise this fringe electronic pop group made their first TV debut last night (in their 14 year career). I thought it was great except for one thing... Kanye. I'm sorry, but every time I see a live performance of Kanye, I think he's a horrible performer. He can't sing or hold a note worth a "dang". He thinks if he name drops a few big name designers in his song (like Christian Dior, or Louis Vuitton) that it makes him cool? To me, he ruined a perfectly good Daft Punk performance. Oh well.

909 rythm composer

I saw this website somewhere in my travels and thought it really cool... Someone took the sounds from an old Drum kit (a Roland TR-909 to be specific) and made a web program out of it. Really cool! It's just fun to play with. I'm not sure if the "save" feature works (kinda doubt it), so don't go spending hours working on a beat only to find out later you can't save it. It makes me miss my old drum machine. I remember it was a roland, but I don't think it was this model, but it was something similar. I sold it after not using it for a long time for a few bucks, when I thought that the technology has so outdated it, yet now, looking back, I'd wish I kept it just for fun. Ah well.

sickness>
feeling 10x better today. I took off work yesterday (slow day) and spent most of it reading and sleeping in bed. Woke up this morning and the cold was practically gone. Awesome!

I thought there was something else but I can't recall now.

Tech Tags: 909 Roland_909 rythm+composer web+app andre+michell drum drum+machine

daft punk - viral

Ok, this post goes out to all you riaa folks, copyright crackdown lawyers, and everyone else who appreciates music...
The other day I stopped over to check out the laughing squid blog and saw this odd video (original squid post here). I watch both of the video's (that I reposted above). Yes... it's incredibly stupid to watch, but at the same time, I couldn't look away. It was a really catchy song, good beat, and really creative videos. Today, I went over to itunes and bought the song. THIS is how it's supposed to work people. I've heard of daft punk before. As a matter of fact, a few weeks ago I rented a movie from them and pretty much hated it. I didn't even really listen to the movie all the way through. So I figured that was that, I'd probably never buy a daft punk song. So then I stumble upon these "viral videos" on youtube, that under "normal" copyright law would (and may yet still) be pulled from the youtube website. But because of these creative bits, I was introduced to another song I'd not heard of and liked it. I have the tech know-how that if I wanted to, I could have recorded the music onto my computer (maybe some have), but I think most people if given a fair, easy way (such as itunes) will go out and BUY the music.
Who knows, maybe someone reading this post, and watching these same videos will feel the same impulse to buy some Daft Punk too. (You're welcome DP).

Tech Tags: daft+punk viral youtube video copyright

music?

So I was driving in my truck this afternoon, enjoying the nice weather (though it's still unseasonably warm here for Oct.) I had a cd in my truck's player from a cd I put together from some songs i have from itunes. When it hit me...
Since the beginning of time, I'm Positive that Man (and woman ;) have been playing some form of music. Even if it were something simple like drums. Then along comes sheet music. I don't know when sheet music was invented (wikipedia gives a vague answer here of before the 15th century). There has got to be what "thousands? Millions? of people in the world right now who are either writing music or at least active musicians right? So is it possible that we can finish writing all the music that can be written? I don't mean lyrics, I mean the actual harmony/melody. Ever since I posted that video a few days back of the kids playing "video killed the radio star" that tune has been stuck in my head! Has that melody EVER been done before in the history of music? What about another country? Is there some monk in Tibet right now, humming that melody and thinking he just made that up?
Just something to think about.

fyi> I think what triggered this thought was a recent clip I saw on Mtv (I was amazed to actually see someone singing on it!)... This girl was singing and gyrating on stage with original lyrics, but she was singing (or lip syncing) to a beat/melody that was originally done by the 80's band Soft cell called "tainted love." They I think remade the song from Donna Summers? - nope... wikipedia to the rescue again. The song was originally recorded in 1964 by Gloria Jones. Re-Recorded in 1975 by Ruth Swan, then re-re-recorded in 1981 by soft cell, and I just learned re-re-re-recorded by Marilyn Manson in 2001. Maybe this answers my question... if artists are just re-recording the same songs, maybe we have run out of music?
(side note: Both the soft cell video and marilyn's video are on youtube. I'm surpised to say that I found the soft cell video MUCH more disturbing than the Manson video.) Ooops, add one more to this list... the Pussy Cat Doll's remade the song also. ugh. ok... youtube has it all... Here is Gloria Jone's 1964 recording - though I suspect someone else added these images? And the hits just keep goin... here's another one by "Milk Inc" - never heard of her/them. Ok, I think I'll stop looking now... I just found the WORST cover of the song by "coil".

The Wrong Trousers...

I found this youtube video over on Dan Santat's blog.
These Kids are great! Ok, maybe the vocals need a little polish, but considering the venue and the crappy video recorder I'll give them a pass. They more than make up for it with their passion.

Oh, and read Dan's post here about getting older. It's both insightful and a tad bit depressing.

DEVO

This video made an appearance over the weekend over on "laughing Squid" and I just saw it repeated over on boingboing, so I figured that was a sign that I had to post it up too! :)
But really, I'm glad to post this video. This video had a huge impression on me when I saw it LIVE on TV. I remember staying up late one night to watch "saturday night live". This was back when SNL was something you didn't want to miss. I was still pretty young at the time, but I remember this video strongly for some reason. I think most of all, I had NEVER seen a performance like this. I had seen a bunch of videos and band performances, but the two things I remember... the costumes! These yellow jumpsuits that looked like some sort of haz-mat suit gone awry was so cool. Then the way these guys moved! Or rather Didn't move. The one guy who just sort of "twitched" the whole time, and the others who did this sort of robot dance. My memory is not that good to recall whether or not this was the first time I had seen DEVO, but I think I've been a fan ever since. As a quick sidenote: Not too long ago, I rented a DVD of all the early DEVO music videos. Oh MY! I was shocked at how CRUDE these things were. Not to mention how off the wall they were! I have a feeling that if I saw the videos first, I might not have been a devo fan. It's neat to think though, that at the time, these were some of the most creative music videos of their time. I sure do miss music videos.

Tech Tags: devo SNL 1978 music+videos electronic nerds geeks

Finetune 80's

So I finally got around to putting together another playlist for my finetune website - and made it a permanent fixture in the sidebar of my blog. I stuck with a theme this time... All 80's music! Maybe because that's when I feel like I first discovered music, and a whole new world of "alternative" music opened up to me that it made a huge impression. So many of these songs are "one-hit-wonders" and some are from bands that are still around today and active (U2). At the time, these artists were considered "alternative" These artists were not played on the radio. You could hear them on college radio stations, Mtv (during certain times - back when Mtv was cool), word of mouth, and occasionally a movie soundtrack. Once they gained some popularity almost all of these songs ended up on the pop list of the radio stations.
If you like groups like: U2, depeche mode, the cure, softcell, big country, inxs, etc... you might like my choices. If not? Make your own finetune playlist and let me know in the comments.
Enjoy.
DJCYEN
PS> I'm impressed with finetunes selection of music.

New music thingy...

So a little while back, I went to an Adobe sponsored event. During the presentation, the presenter mentioned (and demo'd) a website called "finetune.com". It took me a while, but I finally made it over there to check it out. Its pretty cool. I found the navigation a bit confusing and clunky, but eventually I figured it out. In a nutshell, you can either listen to other people's playlists, listen to the "staff playlist" Updated frequently, and/or create your own playlists! They put a few strings on the playlist you create (which I understand, I'm amazed they can do what they do). It's totally legal. Some of the audio sounds a bit compressed, but for internet streaming it's not bad.
I'm going to try to embed my first playlist in the sidebar later, but for now, I'll try to embed my playlist in this single post. A brief explanation :) I didn't realize they put a 3 song limit per artist. I wanted to create a "techno/electronic" playlist for myself. But since the genre is a bit new to me, I quickly ran out of artists names! I then reverted back to throwing some 80's techno songs in. Then I threw in plain-ol' 80's songs. Then I just threw whatever popped into my head, because I just wanted to finish the list! (Apparently you can't listen to your playlist unless you have ALL 45 songs. Me no likey this.) So forgive for having the genre's jump all over the place, but hey, makes things interesting right?
I will say thatI found they had a good selection of artists, but I totally thought their "top picks" for that particular artist needs a good whack. For example, I typed in Depech Mode, and got a few odd ball songs.
IF you decide to try out your own playlist, be sure to leave a comment so I can check it out.
Now, sit back, put your headphones on or turn up your speakers and prepare to chill. :)

FREE Music

I thought it was too good to be true when I heard this mentioned on the radio today... It appears as though they have been doing this for some time now, but this is the first time I heard about it. The Philly based radio station WXPN has been putting up FREE (LEGAL) MP3's on their blog. I just downloaded an unreleased song by Spoon (those guys who did that little yellow dancing robot video I just posted about a couple days ago). They have a lot more (many of them local artists) on the blog. I'm going to have to check this more frequently.
FYI - it's a pretty good radio station. I usually flip between this and NPR. Sometimes I don't know what goes on with their music programing though. At times they slip into these 15 minute long jam songs with a 60's feel to them. I just assume this is when the DJ has to go to the potty.
You can listen live on the internet too.

spoon

Found this via boingboing.
I've never heard of spoon, but I like this song. I'll have to check them out!
And it's a great video above!
More at beatbots.org.